Dragonlord

Ep 198. Warmonger. (5)

Ep 198. Warmonger. (5)

Somewhere in the skies, the deity of creation sat idly within the comforts of her makeshift fortress. She quietly sipped on the cup of tea in hand, gazing into the endless blue that surrounded her beyond the rails.

The atmosphere was so peaceful – serene, even.

So, when a shadowguard slithered into being at her side, she expected the news they bore to be just as perfect as the world that was surrounding them.

“Lady Letherien. The shadowguards have returned from Kavir.”

“…And?”

“All remaining survivors have been dealt with, including our own royal guards. Only Keldrin and his squad have remained behind to address any further reinforcements.”

A thin smile formed over the deity’s lips as she listened to the shadowguard’s report.

On the surface, she’d done what any good ruler ought to have: she’d sent a team of royal guards, Karia’s finest soldiers, in hopes of saving the elves being held in Kavir as slaves.

Unaware of the source of Kavir’s blazing inferno, the royal guards had rushed in to save the city’s inhabitants. They’d put out the fires themselves, procured what survivors they could find, and was ready to escort them back to their homeland.

…Had Letherien not sent the shadowguards after them, perhaps it would’ve been a royal guard standing before her instead, reporting on the number of elves they’d managed to save from Kavir.

Alas, the deity of creation saw little purpose in bringing additional refugees – or rather, defects – into her domain.

As she lowered the cup of tea onto her glass table, Letherien beamed a warm smile at the news of their successful massacre.

“You always know exactly what I want, Aldon. What would I do without you?”

“…You flatter me, my liege.”

Still smiling, Letherien offered her hand to the shadowguard before her. A second cup would soon shimmer to being within her grasp, which Aldon gracefully accepted from the deity.

Seating himself across the small glass table, he then proceeded to pour himself his own helping of tea, drinking together with Letherien amidst the clouds.

As the shadowguard lifted his mask to bring the cup of tea to his lips, Letherien observed his subservient attitude in amusement.

“Aren’t you afraid it’s poison?”

“I am,” the shadowguard answered flatly. But he nonetheless poured the cup’s contents into his mouth, letting the warmth trickle into his body.

Only when the liquid had fully immersed into his system did Aldon deliver the rest of his answer.

“But I am far more concerned of disappointing you.”

✧   ✧   ✧

A flash of metal blitzed past, the silver bullet skidding across the dragonlord’s barrier.

“…Are you afraid, foreigner?”@@novelbin@@

“…”

Unamused by the accusation, Serenis returned a pathetic stare towards the black-clad assailant above.

Although, her attention wasn’t exactly on the elf himself, per se; instead, her attention was fixed onto the equipment that he held, ranging from massive hand cannons to throwable explosives.

It wasn’t exactly the typical image of an elf that she remembered.

‘But, regardless…’

As another explosive was thrown towards her direction, Serenis continued to maintain the barrier over herself, as well as the two mages behind her. The projectile soon burst into flames right before their eyes, creating a momentary wall of fire that separated them from their assailant.

In that moment, Serenis glanced behind to look at the two mages behind her.

“…Patrick, Iris. Can you two sense any others nearby?”

Initially, Serenis had considered that she may have been mistaken – that perhaps the survivors’ mana were so insignificant to a point where her senses were failing to register them. After all, she could hardly tell the presence of the elf that was attacking them in front of their face.

But much to the dragonlord’s disappointment, Iris slowly began to shake her head.

“I appreciate your concern, but I’m afraid there aren’t. As you said, if there were any, then that elf probably…”

“…”

Serenis briefly closed her eyes in reflection.

It wasn’t exactly the answer she’d been hoping for. But at the same time, it was the answer she’d been expecting.

Then, without words, the dragonlord began to step forward into the open to address their assailant.

As Serenis emerged from the fires unscathed, a bitter scowl crossed the elf’s face beneath his veiled mask. He then quickly shifted his hold on his cannon, preparing to blast the dragonlord once more.

But when his trusted equipment’s trigger failed to respond, a wave of confusion washed over him.

“Hmm…?”

Again, the elf would pull at the trigger – to no avail. The weapon refused to respond in any manner, failing to produce even the smallest ember.

When he returned his attention to the three below, the smoke had now cleared to reveal Patrick and Iris, each holding out their staff and hand to form a fiery insignia in the air together.

Snorting, Patrick shouted at their assailant with a gloating grin.

“Never had your toy broken, have you?”

“…Sorcery?”

“Never saw Silenced Fire before?”

Admittedly, suppression arts were hardly used outside of those who dealt with criminals on a regular basis. It was unnecessarily complicated, and not very flexible to boot.

…But unfortunately for the elven assailant, both Patrick and Iris were ‘those who dealt with criminals on a regular basis.’

“…”

Serenis likewise spared a momentary glance behind to give her brother a faint smile. She didn’t particularly need the help – but she appreciated the gesture nonetheless.

And, bolstered by her sibling, the dragonlord leapt forth without further delay.

Contrary to the elf’s expectations, his enemy seemed to have no trouble reaching him from below as a pair of white wings seemed to appear out of nowhere; before he could even process the situation, the dragonlord slammed him unto the roof with brute force, not even resorting to magic as she usually would.

With clenched teeth, the assailant growled back at the woman like a rabid animal.

And, as if his growling had served as a cue, a number of others began to emerge from the shadows into plain view around the other rooftops nearby: each were clad in the same black armor as the one under Serenis’ grip, each equipped with similar handheld cannons that were gathering massive amounts of energy. Every single one of them pointed their weapons towards the winged woman, seemingly uncaring for their ally that would be caught in the blast.

But as their weapons simmered with restrained fire, so too did orbs of light just above the dragonlord’s head.

“…Magic?”

While the assailants blankly stared at the spell forming over her head, a soft sigh escaped Serenis’ lips – almost as if she was relieved to see them all appear at once.

For whatever reason, these elves were difficult to detect through mana. Hunting each one down would’ve been far more trouble than it’s worth.

Compared to that, blasting magic at each one was cakewalk.